


Blame Friday the 13th

by brilliantbanshee



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [11]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Carlos is so exasperated with his danger magnet boyfriend, Gen, Hurt Judd, Judd and TK are just trying to run errands, Judd and TK are such siblings, M/M, So of course everything goes wrong, TK is actually really good at things, Worried TK
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23860546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brilliantbanshee/pseuds/brilliantbanshee
Summary: Judd blames Friday the 13th. TK thinks he being ridiculous, but he can't deny that this is not how he thought today would play out.Or, TK and Judd run into trouble while trying to run some errands. Bad things happen.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Judd Ryder & TK Strand
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1209081
Comments: 23
Kudos: 250
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star ▶ Carlos Reyes / Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand, Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Blame Friday the 13th

**Author's Note:**

> I kept starting this one and then pushing it off for other things but it's finally done.

“Wait, are you sure that’s the right kind of pasta?”

“Right kind of...it’s pasta, TK! What’s wrong with pasta?!”

“We’re looking for the gluten-free pasta Judd, you know this.” 

Judd scoffed, “I don’t see the need for any of this ‘gluten-free’ malarky. People have been eating pasta for years and now suddenly it’s a problem?”

TK raised an eyebrow as he switched out the contentious pasta for the (correct) gluten-free variety, “Did you just use the word ‘malarky’?” 

Judd shrugged, “Got the point across, didn’t it?”

TK rolled his eyes, “Judson Ryder everyone. Gay? Fine. Trans? Sure! Gluten-free pasta? Abomination.”

Judd nodded solemnly, “There is only so far a man can be pushed, and pasta is where I draw the line.”

TK scoffed, but tossed the regular pasta back in the cart, “Fine, we can make both; but you’re washing the extra pot.” 

“You’ve got yourself a deal, brother.” Judd agreed, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed, heading towards the next item on the list. TK shook his head at the other man’s antics and followed with the cart. 

Somewhere on the list of firehouse chores, there was always a trip to the grocery store. This was an unpopular chore, simply because of the fact that it had to be completed outside of work hours. They couldn’t have the crew down a member or two in an emergency situation because they had gone out to buy milk. Therefore, the shopping was done by one lucky crew member before shit. TK had pulled the proverbial short straw this time around. Judd had insisted on joining him because he didn’t trust him to not buy “rabbit food.” 

Thus, two members of the 126 were now arguing in the pasta section of the grocery store in the early hours of the morning before their Friday shift. 

Having reached a compromise he was comfortable with on the matter of pasta, Judd continued on the spiel he had been on before they had approached the contentious pasta, “I’m telling you, man; today’s going to be a weird one. Not only is it Friday the 13th, but it is also a full moon tonight. This is when all the crazies come out!”

“I thought Friday the 13th was supposed to be a lucky thing?”

“Then why did they make all those movies about it?”

“Yes Judd, because horror movies are always a reliable source of information,” TK deadpanned. 

Judd ignored his disdain, “Fine, don’t believe me on the Friday the 13th thing, but you can’t deny the full-moon effect!”

“Actually,” TK said, examining the various dressing offerings, “I think I can.”

“There is scientific proof that it affects animals!”

“Well, when Buttercup turns into Cujo, you can say I told you so.” 

“And don’t think I won’t. I’m telling you, kid; people do weird things during the full moon. I bet we are running non-stop today.”

TK shrugged, “Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re not. Personally I don’t think it matters too much. What will be will be and there’s no way to control it. We can only do our best with what we are given.” 

Judd paused in the process of putting some cans in the cart and looked at TK with an incredulous expression, “That actually sounds wise. Where on earth did you get that from?” 

“AA,” TK replied carefully, deliberately avoiding Judd’s eyes. 

Judd’s expression softened, “Well, I think that’s a pretty good way of thinking. Does it help?”

TK shrugged, “Most of the time.” They continued their shopping in silence. Ten minutes and several debates later, they had reached the end of their list. They got in line and were waiting for their turn to check out. TK checked his watch; the shopping had not taken long at all, they still had plenty of time before they had to be at the station. He was about to suggest tp Judd that they stop for breakfast on their way in when a sudden movement in front of them caught his eye. The person currently at the register was having a heated discussion with the cashier - a girl in her late teens maybe, who was starting to look panicky. 

TK was about to nudge Judd when the man in front of them took an aggressive step towards the cashier, who abruptly took one back. TK surged forward, “Hey, man, I don’t know what your issue is, but that’s uncalled for!” he said to the man as he moved closer. 

“Mind your own business pretty boy,” the man growled, not breaking eye contact with the girl, who was frozen in fear. 

“Act like that in public and you make it everyone’s business,” he snapped back, moving closer. He could sense Judd on his heels, silently providing support. 

“Actually, I think you’ll find that Ashley here and I have some private matters to settle, and I’d appreciate if you’d leave us to it.” 

TK scoffed. Was this guy for real? “Yeah, I don’t think that’s about to happen,” he replied. “So how about you step away from the girl before I call the cops.” 

The man finally looked away from Ashley long enough to glare at TK. His gaze was cold as he spit out a threat, “Final warning, leave this alone or you won’t live to regret it.” 

“Hey now,” Judd said sharply, moving ever closer to TK, “why don’t we take a breath here and see if we can calm things down a bit?”

TK noted the wisdom in Judd’s words and under normal circumstances, he would have heeded them. But right now his goal was to keep this man away from the girl, and at the moment his focus was fully on TK. So he spoke again, “What, afraid to pick on someone your own size?”

He heard Judd groan behind him and knew he’d be apologizing for this by buying breakfast later. But the guy’s focus was still on TK and that was what he had wanted. 

What he hadn’t wanted was the knife that suddenly appeared in the man’s hand. He also had not wanted or anticipated the lunge the man took towards him, knife raised. The only coherent thought TK could formulate was  _ shit _ before he was on the ground. 

The actual process of ending up there was a blur, but TK was shocked to find that besides the expected aches of hitting the hard floor, there were no other pains. There was no blood or gashes; nothing to indicate that he had been attacked by a knife at all. TK was marveling at his luck when he heard a soft groan from beside him. He sat up and glanced around.

His feeling of good fortune was fleeting, quickly fading when he saw Judd on the ground beside him, hand pressed to his shoulder, blood staining the floor underneath him. TK’s heart stuttered in his chest. His gaze flew to Ashley, still trembling next to her register. There was no sign of their attacker. “Call 911, now!” he shouted at her as he rushed to Judd’s side. 

He reached him and gently turned him over, pulling his hand off of the wound and ignoring the other man’s protests. He muttered reassurances as he leaned closer to examine the wound, the sound of Judd’s pained gasps hitting him like blows. 

“I’m good,” he tried to gasp, “just pull me up and we’ll get out of here.” 

“Don’t even think about it, Judd. You’re not going anywhere. Now, hold still, I need to look at this.” 

TK peeled Judd’s shirt away from the wound and begin to examine it, wincing in sympathy as Judd hissed in pain at his touch, “I’m sorry Judd, I know it hurts, but I need to see what we’re looking at here.” 

“It’s okay,” Judd said through clenched teeth, “it’s in the shoulder, right? No big deal, slap a bandaid on it and we’ll call it a day.”

“Judd,” TK huffed exasperatedly, “you really have to stop putting so much stock in movies. There is no good place to get stabbed. The shoulder is filled with important muscles and tendons, not to mention arteries. I’m fairly positive he missed the subclavian artery because you haven’t bled out yet, but all I can really do here is guess and treat it as much as I can for now.” 

As he spoke, TK was pulling off his jacket, which he bunched up the best he could and pressed against the wound. He leaned down, using his body weight to aid in creating pressure. Judd let out a fresh gasp of pain and TK winced in sympathy, “I know it hurts Judd, but I need to do everything I can to stop the bleeding.” 

Even as he spoke, TK was surveying the area to see what else he could use to help. His eyes landed on Ashley, who slowly emerging from her register like a fawn venturing out on its own for the first time. “Ashely, hand me your apron.” 

She handed it over without a word, watching the whole scene with wide eyes. TK folded the apron into a narrow strip and began to wind it around the injured area. “What are you doing?” she asked softly. 

“Making a pressure bandage to make sure that it gets constant pressure on it. It’s the best way to reduce the blood flow which, is my number one priority until the ambulance gets here.”

TK finished wrapping the bandage and examined his work. He nodded in satisfaction before pulling himself off the ground. He crossed to the cooler near the register and grabbed a bottle of water out of it. Then he pulled Judd up to a sitting position and leaned him against the counter before handing him the water bottle. “Here, drink this,” he instructed Judd, “it’s important that we try to compensate for the blood loss with other liquids.”

Judd studied the younger man as he took a sip of the prescribed water bottle, “Shit kid, who knew you were this good at this stuff?”

TK raised an eyebrow as he adjusted the bandage again, “You do realize I am a certified field medic, right Judd? I’m basically only an exam away from being an actual paramedic, I know what I’m doing.” 

“So why haven’t you?”

“Why haven’t I what?”

“Why haven’t you taken the exam? Become a paramedic?” 

TK shrugged, “I guess I like running to burning buildings too much.” 

Judd chuckled, “Fair point kid. It is a hell of an adrenaline rush isn’t it?”

“There’s nothing else quite like it that I’ve ever found,” Tk replied, and then frowned, “Nothing legal anyways. Besides,” he said lightly, his shift in tone clearly indicating his intent to change the topic, “if I wasn’t in the burning building with you, who else would watch your back?”

Judd chuckled again, “Well, my bad for underestimating you brother - here I thought you were just a pretty face.” 

“Well,” TK said, a grin sliding across his face, “it is a very pretty face, so I guess I can’t hold that against you.” 

Judd groaned and TK laughed. He quickly sobered as he glanced around, “I thought help would be here by now,” he said into the silence that surrounded them, “is it taking a long time, or is it just me?” 

Ashley glanced down at her phone, which was still on the line with dispatch, “The call has been going on for 7 minutes and 43 seconds,” she provided. TK nodded and then ran a hand through his hair. They were still well within normal response timeframes, but TK was still uneasy. He wasn’t sure where the guy had gone and he had no idea if he was going to come back and it made him nervous. He gestured toward’s Ashley’s phone, “Can you ask the 911 operator if they have an ETA?” 

Ashley did and responded, “2 minutes.” 

TK nodded. They could last two minutes. He nudged the water bottle in Judd’s hand, “Drink,” he reminded him. Judd muttered something that sounded vaguely sarcastic under his breath but TK ignored it. He turned his attention to Ashley, who was still trembling by her register. 

“Are you okay?” he asked her gently, feeling ashamed that he hadn’t thought to ask before now. 

She nodded, and her voice was surprisingly steady as she responded, “I’m fine, but I am so sorry you got dragged into this. I think I’m more glad that you were here though.” 

“Did you know that man?”

She nodded gravely, “He’s my ex. He wanted to get back together but I told him no and, well…” she trailed off but her eyes roved the scene around her, and TK understood. 

“Do you have a restraining order against him?” he asked. 

She shook her head. “Would you consider getting one?” he asked cautiously. He didn’t know this girl and he didn’t want to impose, but if this had happened in a grocery store at 7 in the morning, there is no telling what he would do at any other time or place. 

She nodded, tears starting to form in her eyes. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, “When the police get here why don’t we talk to them about that? Does that sound okay?” She nodded again and TK flashed her a smile. 

Any further discussion was interrupted by a sudden commotion outside and the sounds of the calvary moving in. Within moments the store was filled with police and the paramedics out of the 121. TK was just giving Travis, the paramedic captain, a rundown of what he had done so far when he heard a familiar voice calling his name. He glanced over his shoulder to find Carlos looking at him with an expression torn somewhere between panic and exasperation. 

“Carlos, hey,” he said weakly, adding a small wave at the end. He heard Judd chuckle beside and if he hadn’t just been stabbed, he would have hit the traitor. 

“Are you alright? What are you doing here? What happened?” 

TK glanced at Judd who nodded before heading over to Carlos. He pulled the other man into a tight hug that he readily returned. When they pulled apart Carlos looked him over anxiously. 

“Carlos, I’m fine, I swear,” TK promised him. Carlos took a deep breath and nodded, “I believe you I just - you told me you were going grocery shopping before work today with Judd when I left yesterday and I never in a million years would have guessed that would have ended up like, well, this,” he said, gesturing the to scene around them. 

“If it makes you feel any better, neither did I.” 

“No, can’t really say that it does. How do you keep getting yourself into these situations TK?”

“Natural luck?” TK offered. Carlos scoffed, “Maybe we can chalk this one up to Friday the 13th.” 

TK groaned, “Not you too. Please don’t let Judd hear you say that - I will never hear the end of it.” Carlos raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it. 

TK looked over to Judd. It looked like they were getting ready to load up and head to the hospital. Just beyond them, he could see Ashley, still standing behind uncertainly, arms wrapped tightly around herself. “Hey Carlos, could you do something for me?”

Carlos nodded at him earnestly, “Anything.”

TK gestured over to where Ashley was standing, “It was her ex that did this, and she wants a restraining order. Can you…”

Carlos nodded firmly before he had even finished his sentence, “I’ll go talk to her and get the ball rolling.” He noticed TK looking between her and Judd and affectionately bumped his shoulder with his own, “Go with Judd, I’ll make sure she’s looked after.” 

TK gave his hand an affectionate squeeze, “Thank you, Carlos; have I mentioned lately how wonderful you are?” 

“Maybe, but it’s always nice to have a reminder.” 

TK grinned, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “I’ll be sure to remind you again later.” 

With that he was gone, following Judd into the back of the ambulance and leaving a somewhat flustered cop to pull himself back together and make sure that Ashley was taken care of. 

As the ambulance pulled away, TK looked down at Judd. He was still pale but didn’t seem to be in as much pain. “How are you doing?” he asked Judd, settling on the bench beside him, out of the way of the paramedic checking vitals. 

“Just waiting for the right time to say I told you so,” Judd replied. 

TK gave him a puzzled look, “What, exactly did you tell me?” 

“Friday the 13th, full moon - ring a bell?”

TK shook his head emphatically, “Nope, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

Judd scoffed, “Whatever kid, you know I’m right.”

“Judd Ryder being right. You know, I actually think that might be the scariest thing of all.”   
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I still don't think I'm fully in love with this. I likely would have fully abandoned it if I wasn't so stubborn and didn't love the banter at the beginning so much. 
> 
> But it's done, so let me know what you think. It's nice to get feedback from someone besides your own sleep-deprived mind once in a while. 
> 
> As I've already mentioned on tumblr, I am planning on participating in each of the prompts for Lone Star Week (starting May 3rd!) so it's not likely that I will be posting anything new this week as I finish up my pieces for that. I have them all started, but none are finished yet. There are some I'm really excited to share with you guys!
> 
> Come find me on [tumblr](https://brillliantbanshee.tumblr.com/)


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